Bljn Oakloom

Bljn Oakloom
Biographical Information
Birth Name	Bjork Nyyr-ijla
Guardian	Kali, Kiltian Goddess of Creative Destruction
Birthplace	Nyyr-ijla, Golmore JUngle
Born	1556
Nameday	22nd Sun of the 6th Astral Moon
Race	Viera
Clan	Rava
Physical Attributes
Hair	Blonde with white highlights
Eyes	Pale green
Height	5'10"
Weight	170 ponze
Equipment
Career Information
Occupation	Seamstress, Waitress, Resistance Spy
Out-of-Character Information
Time Zone	GMT-4
Server	Mateus
Job	Weaver
Footnotes

Biography

(( Trigger warning: Mentions of rape, child abuse, realistic depictions of disease and violence, and suicidal ideation/attempts. ))

The Golmore Jungle all but turned a blind eye to the war that occurred outside their borders when Bjork was born. It was this way for many years, such as during the War of the Lions, but this time the Garlean Empire had brought many strange weapons with them. Still, the Rava fiercely guarded their woods, with children such as Bjork within them.

Bjork was considered a talented weaver in Nyyr-ijla, taking after her mother Ingibjorg with the title of Oakloom. Idolized by her younger sisters, she took after caring for them along with the other kits of the village. She mended tears in their clothes and combed out knots in their hair as needed. Her free time was spent helping the Hearthmothers (spiritual and familial leaders) and medicine women of the village brew wines and stouts, especially whenever there was no clean water to drink after a flood. They were kept in pots that Nyyr-ijla was distinctly renowned for, utilizing the clay on the riverbanks. Though Bjork didn't work in their kilns, she spend much time learning traditional basketwork, decorating the exteriors with parrot feathers as her own distinct touch. Though she occasionally had a defiant attitude towards her elders, Bjork was a much-loved child. When she was but a child and received her first tattoos and scarifications, the Hearthmother Isey granted her a blessing before she departed from the wood. Whether she liked it or not, Bjork would have to do the same as a teenager, ripping the Green Word out of her long ears.

There was evening when the sun was setting that soot rained from the sky. Bljn was fourteen when it happened. Trees creaked and fell over spontaneously, striking fear into the hearts of the children. However, it did not draw away the warrior women and Wood-warders of Nyyr-ijla. They answered the call to war against the ironmen, yet they would not return. Men and women clad in black swarmed Nyyr-ijla, burning and breaking, looting and pillaging. The Viera that inhabited the village were nothing more than animals to them; livestock for breaking. Those that weren't killed for opposition were guided to a camp. Bjork and her siblings, Bjarna and Aril, were separated from their mother. Bjarna was only eleven and Aril's sex wasn't even determined yet at nine years old, but they were considered fit enough to be put to work. Ingibjorg, still fit in her fifties for a Viera, was kept as a token. For every act out of line the siblings dealt with, it would reflect on their mother forcefully.

Scared stiff, the siblings complied with being put to work in a sweatshop on the outskirts of captured Valnain. The hours were long, the atsmophere of the sweatshop hot and dusty. Only fed one meal a day, two for the hardest workers, they sat at their stations to sew underarmor for the soldiers in Valnain. Though Bjork was the most "dedicated" worker, even resorting to beating Aril when they cried and complained, it was Bjork that was the one who forged the idea for their liberation. She'd even come up with a city-name for herself; Bljn, or 'to gaze upon'. It was her desire to gaze upon the city of Lea Monde where the Garlean upper class citizens lived, to see the ocean and the vineyards they were so famous for. Though she was tight-lipped about the whole operation, reprimanding her siblings harshly for stepping out of line or speaking too openly about their escape plans, she'd wondered what her karma must have been to have to endure the brutal murder of her mother. She and her siblings were taken and held back, given news of Ingibjorg's attempt to slay the camp guard. Before her own children and numerous other camp prisoners, she was raped with such violence she went into shock. While the other prisoners screamed and sobbed, Bjork was silent. Not a tear came to her eye as all feeling was ripped from her core, to the point her hands went numb. The warning of what could become of them was drilled into her heart. It would take many years for her to realize that because of this, she did not want equality. She wanted revenge.

Bjork didn't need a reason to hate and distrust males. She'd already felt scorn for the fact the Wood-warders failed in their endeavor to protect her village. For many more moons, it was because of this she had to work at a dirty sweatshop, occasionally witnessing other workers disappearing. It wasn't until she developed a terrible fever that she would find out why, as she would be among them. Separated from her siblings, she was transported further away from the camp to a remote hospital, confined to a sterile room where she was treated through a bubble. Though she hadn't seen them, she knew other races were present at the hospital, especially including those of Nyyr-ijla who were not guarded against the disease. For moons, Bjork struggled not to succumb. Eventually, she would be cured of her condition, but Garlean doctors could do nothing to fix the nerve damage she had sustained. What encouraged Bjork's next boldness, she hadn't a clue. She'd overheard the idea that she was to be "put down" from other medics in a mass "cleansing" of the hospital, save for Garlean citizens. Emboldened by an intense will to live, Bjork escaped her bubble after goring a nurse's neck with a scalpel, stealing her supplies and handgonne before escaping to a nearby window outside of her room. Albeit her nurse was supposedly among the "better" Garleans, Bjork felt the gods would sort it out. Under the alias of 'Bljn' so her siblings might find her, she escaped the hospital with a handgonne to hold a Garlean supply truck hostage to take to Lea Monde. She negotiated with the supplier to smuggle her as a servant to a household in Lea Monde, where she could stay. She was fifteen by the time the travel ended.

Now Bljn, she spent a while under the roof of the Garlean Aedilis' (minister of city planning) wife, Eurydice het Ventaurus. Although her right leg was terribly painful and her foot went entirely numb, she carried out tasks on her behalf, acting as nothing more than a slave for the next six years under the title of aan Ventaurus. Once, Eurydice had even caught her with a noose around her neck, prepared to kick out a chair from underneath her. Constantly, the concept of slashing her own wrists was appealing to Bljn, even when she lived in what could be considered as safe as her situation allowed her to be. Her driving will to live was the hope she would one day see her siblings alive and well, even if they had hated her.

It was out of Eurydice's kindness (and perhaps Bljn's manipulative abilities) that Bljn ended up smuggled again onboard a ship to Vesper Bay. Feeling as though she was finally tasting the freedom she so longed for, she was sorely mistaken. Even before her journey ended, she became sick with pork tapeworms and her right leg was already wasted, forcing her to use crutches. Her dream of joining the Weavers' Guild was squandered, living in the squalor of Pearl Lane. Unable to receive her documentation from Eurydice, the threat of deportation constantly loomed over her head, even if she did find a place to live as a resident. She was nothing more than an illegal alien to the Ul'dahns, who promptly turned their nose up to her. Bljn wanted none of their pity as she worked as a freelance clothing mender for the adventurers that assisted her outside of the Hourglass Inn, her prices but a pittance that they were more than happy to take advantage of. It was only recently that she was exposed to the light. With one fateful encounter, she was reunited with the Hearthmother, Isey Lightmother. Bljn was promptly taken to Isey's clinic and medicated for worms, as well as given her first bath in a year and new crutches. Albeit they couldn't cure her leg and post-disease chronic pain, the clinic eased it by giving Bljn her first wheelchair.

When things were looking up in Bljn's life for the first time, the Monetarist population was soon to change that. By dispatching Brass Blades to raid the homes of "illegal" residents who hadn't paid the fee to live in Ul'dah, they were supposedly "cleaning" the city. Bljn was taken from Isey among the raids, being deported forcibly to Rabanastre. Many malms away from what was supposed to be her new home, Isey followed her, accompanied by the Veena Viera Sjlfa. How Bljn would support the three of them was a new struggle she adapted to, utilizing her weaving and tactical ability to make her way around Lowtown. Although her pains were great, she'd finally managed to find joy in her life; a new family.

Personality

Attitude

Bljn was raised from a culture that believed everything came with a price. Even when she accepts charity, Bljn tries to find a way to repay the giver. This industrial mindset has assisted her in many endeavors, especially as a tailor. The downside is that it has a habit of making her seem greedy. She's cynical, with a tendency to hoard supplies she's given. Gradually, she is learning to live without such paranoia around her family.

Sociability

Bljn bristles easily at other people, oftentimes ending up pushing them away. However, she harbors a strong desire to make friends. It's exceedingly difficult for her to keep relationships more than just superficially, as she fears that they would be taken away from her. Furthermore, she has a tendency to be manipulative, but she chooses specific people to use it for. This can lead to people questioning whether or not her smiles are genuine. Her wish is to find people she can smile genuinely around.

Expressiveness

Bljn is the first person to tell one what's on her mind, even if it's unintentionally forceful. She can be polite and upbeat when the situation calls for it, but her smiles rarely reach her eyes. She's more than content simply being considered important than she is to put a full investment in trying to please people.

Notes & Trivia

• Since Bljn had moved to Lea Monde, she spent time secretly studying about the Kiltian goddess Kali, the Ferocious Mother and goddess of destruction. Finding comfort in accepting Her guidance and asking for Her protection, Bljn worships Kali as her patron deity in private.
• One of Bljn's favorite pastimes, especially since she'd learned to read, is scowering blitzball magazines. Collecting blitzball merchandise has become a hobby of hers, being especially fond of the Limsa Lominsa Sanguine Sirens. She owns at least one T-shirt with their emblem and a Siren plush, but the latter is hidden away most of the time.
• Bljn is right-handed.
• Bljn's favorite foods include turtle meat, pork, sweet popotoes, and apple strudel.
• Bljn is lactose intolerant.
• Bljn is most easily recognized - if not by her white highlights - by her elaborate facial tattoos and scarification on her stomach. The scarred patterns run down her abdomen and below her navel, marking her status as a weaver of Nyyr-ijla. Occasionally, she is also seen sporting reed piercings around her lower lip, a Nyyr-ijlan display of her status as a woman.
• Bljn struggles with muscle atrophy in her right leg, as well as pain and fatigue associated with the polio-like disease she contracted seven years ago. She has what is basically post-polio syndrome. Because of this, she is in a wheelchair.
• Bljn suffers from major depressive disorder in periods, causing her to lose interest in activity easily, lash out at others, and isolate herself.

Gallery

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  Bljn and her mother Isey by golden-hourglass